Our First Family Home Evening

Part of our mission plan to strengthen the members is to hold a series of Family Home Evenings. We will teach them to have family prayer, read the scriptures daily and plan to attend the temple as often as possible.

We prepared our lesson and Sister Lindsay made a pan of Krispy Treats from a box of "Cocoa Krispie" like cereal. It was 96 degrees outside and had a heat index of 130 when she fired up the propane stove to make treats for the family home evening tonight. She is truly a saint!

Tonight we arrived at the home of our members. It was the fifth and last home from the street, along a narrow path by the side of the homes. We drove along the path under laundry lines around boulders, banana trees and avoiding the dogs, cats and chickens in the yard. When we came to the last home it was not what we had expected... it was a bamboo hut with various colored sheets of corrugated steel for the roof, no door, a wood fire under an over-hanging "kitchen" roof.

We saw a man reading a newspaper... it was not until he looked up that we recognized him as our friend from church. He greeted us warmly and invited us into his home and cautioned us to duck, watch out and be careful several times along the way. The home had various pieces of wood furniture sitting on a dirt floor, one fluorescent light bulb and a single oscillating fan in the center of the room. We entered, greeting the 8 children and his wife as we went. There was a sweet spirit of love and happiness in the home that I recognized... it was the Spirit of the Lord.

The father called everyone together to meet us and begin family home evening. We invited the father to fill out the assignment wheel with the names of the family and they all gathered 'round to see what was happening. We moved to the far end of the room and some sat on chairs, others of us sat on a strong multi-purpose shelf. The eldest son, a 14 year-old, conducted the FHE and did an excellent job. I have never heard such a well conducted meeting in a home! It really took me by surprise. The eldest daughter conducted the opening hymn. She started the hymn in the traditional manner by singing the first line to give us the pitch and indicate the hymn. We sang "I am a Child of God" in that little bamboo hut with a dirt floor and a mom and a dad and eight precious little children. That was a moving moment. I knew that God loved this family and they loved him too.

There were announcements, spiritual thoughts, and reading from the scriptures, then it was time for our lesson. Sister Lindsay gave a brief lesson on family prayer with a bridge puzzle to get involvement of the kids and to demonstrate the keystone principle of family prayer. She asked them if they had a special experience with family prayer that they would like to share. They looked at each other and the children told us of the time they prayed as a family that the typhoon would not blow their house down or flood them out of their home. They told us of how their home was spared and the trees fell all around them but not on their house. Wow! We weren't teaching them anything, they were teaching us! They had family prayer everyday and it wasn't just a quick repetition, it was a thoughtful prayer from their heart. They depend on God's tender mercies everyday.

We shared our testimony of family prayer and prepared for a few family games. The family taught us one of their favorite games and then we shared one of our own. I think ours was the favorite tonight. After a reverent closing prayer, we were invited to have some soup with them. I was thinking we would have a Krispie Treat and be on our way, but no, we had a delicious hot bowl of soup in the heat of the night. I broke out in another sweat, but finished the soup. We finally got to the Krispy Treats, but they just didn't matter because the family had already filled us spiritually and temporally.

We love each member of this family and we feel connected to them because of their love and devotion to the Lord. They are faithful in their daily family prayers and weekly FHE. They do it with joy, devotion and a reverent spirit of worship of God and humble devotion to his commandments. I will never forget our first FHE in the Philippines... I felt loved, honored, and filled with the Spirit. Oh, that we could all enjoy the sweet blessings of FHE and family prayer as this family. They have done what the Lord has asked and have become a forever family!

 The father filled out the assignment chart for FHE. Notice the Krispie Treats in a Zip-Lock bag.

 Me and my new-found friends. We felt the Spirit in FHE as we heard the summer heat-thunder rolling through the evening skies. We felt safe and felt the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts and in their home.

Dinner after the home evening.

We enjoyed the lesson of love and humility in obedience to the commands of the Lord through a living prophet.

Zone Conferences

We attended all three zone conferences and met all the missionaries in the mission. Each conference had three zones attend. We were so impressed with their gospel knowledge, strength of testimony and obedience to mission rules and President Jensen. They are happy and take joy in the work in a way that invites you to join in without any pressure, just a perfect measure of Christ-like love. There was a sister companionship at each conference that brought us cookies, and even though they were hungry, the missionaries always ushered us to the front of the food line. We feel so blessed to be here with the stalwart Baguio Missionaries!

BAGUIO ZONE CONFERENCE

Rice with pork topping in gravy, mixed vegetables and lots of fresh fruit, especially pineapple and melons.

This is Bert. He has served as chief cook and bottle washer for 8 mission presidents. He is 65 and will retire this month. He will be missed.

Meat and vegetables wrapped in rice paper and topped with coconut shreds.

What's this... yes, brownies! Bless you Bert!

The long lines are soon served and every is filled.

Table #1 of sisters.

Table #2 of sisters.

We were honored to sit at the President's table with the Jensen's and Perkin's.

Army of Helaman... and thank you for the food.

Happy Birthday!

DAGUPAN ZONE CONFERENCE

 Lining up after the zone conference for a hearty lunch.

 The president's table was already set with food, but where's the president?

A closer look at the table setting. Note there are no knives. You get a fork and a larger spoon that you use as a knife and spoon.

These sisters brought special cookies for their senior sisters. They baked them in a toaster oven in a very hot apartment. These are true gifts of the heart.

 During the lunch we heard a loud pounding on the roof as about two inches of rain fell in 30 minutes! It was a hot, humid afternoon, but cooled off for an hour after the storm.

 

This is our zone, the Magaldan Zone. The four sister on the front row live in Manaoag too. 

URDANETA ZONE CONFERENCE

 After the spiritual feast, they line up for a temporal feast. "It's so great! Good food and we don't have to cook it our self!"

 The group at the Urdaneta Conference

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A look at the Urdaneta stake center. The driveway at the side goes to the back of the building and also to the new mission home and office. They will move into it mid-July.

Friday and Saturday

 This woman is a member of the Dagupan Branch and soon to be the landlord of the zone leaders in town. She picked a couple of pomegranits for Sister Lindsay to take home with her. This was a big day for us. We learned from the zone leaders that the droppings in our home were from our friendly lizards that scurry across our walls and not from mice. We can rest easier and throw away all the traps and poisons. Its amazing what you can learn from a zone leader.

 We attended the baptism of a sister in the Mapandan Branch on Saturday and had a wonderful experience. We went to sacrament meeting the following day for her confirmation. She discovered that she had family (including grandchildren) that were in the church that she didn't know were members.

 This is a sunset view out our office window. We often have heat lighting flash through the skies at night.

 Saturday morning breakfast; milk, cereal, juice, toast and fruits... oh, almost forgot our vitamins!

We have two fans in the dining room/living room so we can breathe through the heat and humidity. The towel is under the fan base to stop it from rattling on the tile floor. Notice the Naugahyde furniture... not my favorite place to sit on a hot sticky day.

On The Asin Road

We found the problem with our Internet connection... bad cables. The one I brought from home works great. The three that were provided locally don't. We'll get fully hooked up when we get a few more good cables.

It's Monday, P-Day, and we're going to use a little free time this morning to explore the Asin Road from the top of Baguio to near the valley floor. We are blessed with mountains and we're going to enjoy their beauty today. Along the way we will go through two tunnels that were hand carved out of the mountain rock by the Spaniards in the 1800's. You can read the picture of the sign for the details. We also stopped at a wood carving shop and Sister Lindsay made a few wise buying choices.

we stopped along the way at a small wooden floor bridge to take in the sites.

Sister Perkins, Sister Lindsay, Sister Jensen

President Perkins, Elder Lindsay, President Jensen

A jeepney on its route through the mountains.

 And on its way down the hill.

 Can you spot the bird? It's in the center of the picture facing you.

 The Asin Road. It was a good cement road that winds through the jungle, cut from the side of the rock mountains.

Around the next bend we came to the tunnels. This sign tells the story.

Another jeepney going through the tunnel moving the locals from town to their homes. 

 The mountain jungle

 A tunnel with the jungle growth over the top.

 A look inside the tunnel. See where the chunks of rock that were removed.

 Along the Asin Road.

 Some local native growth that adds a little color.

 This is a wood carving shop of a member of the church.

 Gotta have power! Reminds me of the DR and Egypt.

 A look down the road in the business district.

 Sister Lindsay finds just what she wanted. A hand carved, native weave tissue holder.

 Gotta get a little closer look at the river gorge below.

 A "castle" under construction on the side of the mountain with a gorgeous view.

 Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the making.

 Stairway to heaven?

 ...or a shortcut home?

Address Change

Urdaneta Mission Office Address Changes effective July 18th

Starting July 18th, the mission will be relocating to the city of Urdaneta and the name of the Mission will be the Philippines Urdaneta Mission. 

Please send all packages and letters to the following:
Elder or Sister's Name
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Philippines Urdaneta Mission Office
Barangay: San Vincente East
Urdaneta City, Pangasinan 2428
Philippines

Please note that we will not be moving until that date.  You will need to consider the timing of your deliveries as best you can.  Package and letter forwarding does not exist in the Philippines.  We will do our best to collect letters and packages from Baguio for the month following our move.  Please consider your shipping times and make your best judgement of which address to send too.  Please don't send them too early.  We will do our very best to help with this concern.  And just a reminder for US packages - make sure you check the "Gift" check box on the US customs form.  Doing so will help avoid customs fees at this end.
President and Sister Jensen